Utilities Prison Architect Guide

Last update: 25 May 2016

Utilities consist of water and electricity - resources required for many of the objects and items in the prison to function properly. Without them it would be impossible to do the laundry and flush water in the toilets, not to mention preparing meals or working in the workshop. Creating a well-functioning utilities network is one of the basic obligations of each prison administrator

Installing given parts of the system isn't particularly complicated - just enter the utilities menu in the lower part of the interface (screen above) and properly choose given elements.

Once you're done with the foundations of the prison and have planned the design, you should invest in a Power Station and place it in an area separated from the prisoners, though close to the centre of the building (screen above). The same goes for the Water Pump Station which supplies the facility with water.

 

Note that after entering the utilities menu, there will be a green light around the power station - that's the area supplied with electricity. You need to expand it so that it covers the whole building (screen above). You can do it by using Electrical Cables which considerably increase the range of the device. That way light will shine in the whole building.

 

You also need to make sure that the water pump station is directly connected with the power station (you need to connect them with a cable). The pump station will then start functioning and you will be able to expand its reach using pipes.

The developers' intention was that Large Pipes should serve as a method of transporting water over large distances, while Small Pipes to connect given objects to the network (screen above). At this moments there's really no difference between them (apart from the price), though that might change soon.

 

Objects that require water or electricity need to be directly connected using cables or pipes, or otherwise they won't function properly (you can find a list of them in the Objects menu). That's why a proper room and object placement plan is so important (screen above).

 

If the amount of electricity generated by the power station would turn out to be insufficient, you should invest in a Capacitor and place it adjoining the main machine. The state of your network is displayed using the red gauge on the station.

 

If you've done everything properly, you should end up with an efficient utilities network which delivers required resources to all objects. Note that not all rooms require cables and pipes to work properly, so you can leave a part of the prison disconnected (screen above).